THE SENATE S.R. NO. 89 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 STATE OF HAWAII SENATE RESOLUTION Urging the State to reject energy sources found to be harmful or destabilizing to our climate system and environment and to commit to renewable energy and the values of Hawaii's residents.
THE SENATE S.R. NO. 89
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
THE SENATE
S.R. NO.
89
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
SENATE RESOLUTION
Urging the State to reject energy sources found to be harmful or destabilizing to our climate system and environment and to commit to renewable energy and the values of Hawaii's residents.
WHEREAS, our climate is in crisis; global fossil fuel pollution and other human-caused factors have contributed to the climate crisis and its range of devastating impacts including rising sea-levels, critical loss of wildlife species, and an increase in flooding, wildfires, and other extreme weather events that disproportionately impact the lives and cultures of Indigenous peoples who have stewarded their lands and waters since time immemorial; and WHEREAS, climate breakdown has already severely impacted Hawaii through rising temperatures, devastating wildfires, sea level rise, stronger hurricanes, coral bleaching, increased drought and flooding, shifting rain patterns, and biodiversity loss; and WHEREAS, scientists are warning: We have less than a decade to take bold, ambitious action to transition our economy off fossil fuels and onto safe and green renewable energy; and WHEREAS, in 2021, Hawaii became the first jurisdiction in the United States to declare a climate emergency officially, and in doing so, requested statewide collaboration toward an immediate just transition and emergency mobilization effort to restore a safe climate, signifying a serious commitment to addressing climate change issues within the State; and WHEREAS, according to leading scientific consensus, including reports from the International Energy Agency, there is no room for new fossil fuel projects if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, effectively meaning scientists are warning against initiating any new fossil fuel projects, including those that utilize liquefied natural gas (LNG), if we are to combat climate change; and WHEREAS, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its 2021 Report that identified methane, a major greenhouse gas that frequently leaks along the LNG supply chain, as a key contributor to global heating; and WHEREAS, LNG is primarily composed of methanea harmful greenhouse gas that is more than eighty times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide; and WHEREAS, methane is responsible for around thirty percent of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution, leading to the extreme weather, crop loss, rising sea levels, and wildfires that accompany global warming; and WHEREAS, reducing methane emissions would have a significant impact in mitigating the climate crisis as scientists have made clear that rapid and sustained reductions in methane emissions are key to limit near-term warming; and WHEREAS, hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as "fracking", is a polluting and water-intensive technique used by fossil fuel companies to crack open the earth and access gas deposits; and WHEREAS, LNG is a product of fracking and fracking wells, in addition to destroying forests and farmland and poisoning clean water, air, and soil, pose unacceptable health hazards to farmers and communities that live near fracking operations, with numerous reports linking fracking activities to birth defects, cancer, and asthma; and WHEREAS, each fracking well can pollute more than 10,000,000 gallons of fresh water, and the fracking process involves toxic, carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals that have been known to contaminate agricultural soils near fracking operations; and WHEREAS, the LNG fracking industry is undermining climate change action, as every stage of the LNG life cycle leaks methane emissions into the atmosphere; and WHEREAS, Robert W. Howarth, called "one the world's premier methane scientists", says ending the use of LNG should be a global priority; and WHEREAS, LNG would require costly infrastructure, such as an offshore platform for LNG tankers to dock and unload, storage tanks, pipelines, and a regasification facility, diverting our resources and seriously undermining efforts to move us forward with our clean energy goals; and WHEREAS, shifting to cleaner, locally-run energy will not only slow the tide of the climate crisis, it will create thousands of new, good-paying jobs that sustain families while protecting community health and significantly boosting the State's economy; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that this body acknowledges the devasting environmental and health hazards that liquefied natural gas poses and that use of liquefied natural gas is not in alignment with Hawaii's core values; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body requests state authorities to refrain from committing financial and regulatory assistance toward LNG or any other energy sources found to be harmful or destabilizing to our climate system and environment; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body calls upon the state government to protect the people of Hawaii by implementing the recommendations by scientists to ensure no new fossil fuel projects are invested in and focus our resources on transitioning our economy off fossil fuels and onto safe and green renewable energy; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor; Attorney General; Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources; Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; and Mayors of the Counties of Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii and Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu. OFFERED BY: _____________________________
WHEREAS, our climate is in crisis; global fossil fuel pollution and other human-caused factors have contributed to the climate crisis and its range of devastating impacts including rising sea-levels, critical loss of wildlife species, and an increase in flooding, wildfires, and other extreme weather events that disproportionately impact the lives and cultures of Indigenous peoples who have stewarded their lands and waters since time immemorial; and
WHEREAS, climate breakdown has already severely impacted Hawaii through rising temperatures, devastating wildfires, sea level rise, stronger hurricanes, coral bleaching, increased drought and flooding, shifting rain patterns, and biodiversity loss; and
WHEREAS, scientists are warning: We have less than a decade to take bold, ambitious action to transition our economy off fossil fuels and onto safe and green renewable energy; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, Hawaii became the first jurisdiction in the United States to declare a climate emergency officially, and in doing so, requested statewide collaboration toward an immediate just transition and emergency mobilization effort to restore a safe climate, signifying a serious commitment to addressing climate change issues within the State; and
WHEREAS, according to leading scientific consensus, including reports from the International Energy Agency, there is no room for new fossil fuel projects if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, effectively meaning scientists are warning against initiating any new fossil fuel projects, including those that utilize liquefied natural gas (LNG), if we are to combat climate change; and
WHEREAS, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its 2021 Report that identified methane, a major greenhouse gas that frequently leaks along the LNG supply chain, as a key contributor to global heating; and
WHEREAS, LNG is primarily composed of methanea harmful greenhouse gas that is more than eighty times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide; and
WHEREAS, methane is responsible for around thirty percent of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution, leading to the extreme weather, crop loss, rising sea levels, and wildfires that accompany global warming; and
WHEREAS, reducing methane emissions would have a significant impact in mitigating the climate crisis as scientists have made clear that rapid and sustained reductions in methane emissions are key to limit near-term warming; and
WHEREAS, hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as "fracking", is a polluting and water-intensive technique used by fossil fuel companies to crack open the earth and access gas deposits; and
WHEREAS, LNG is a product of fracking and fracking wells, in addition to destroying forests and farmland and poisoning clean water, air, and soil, pose unacceptable health hazards to farmers and communities that live near fracking operations, with numerous reports linking fracking activities to birth defects, cancer, and asthma; and
WHEREAS, each fracking well can pollute more than 10,000,000 gallons of fresh water, and the fracking process involves toxic, carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals that have been known to contaminate agricultural soils near fracking operations; and
WHEREAS, the LNG fracking industry is undermining climate change action, as every stage of the LNG life cycle leaks methane emissions into the atmosphere; and
WHEREAS, Robert W. Howarth, called "one the world's premier methane scientists", says ending the use of LNG should be a global priority; and
WHEREAS, LNG would require costly infrastructure, such as an offshore platform for LNG tankers to dock and unload, storage tanks, pipelines, and a regasification facility, diverting our resources and seriously undermining efforts to move us forward with our clean energy goals; and
WHEREAS, shifting to cleaner, locally-run energy will not only slow the tide of the climate crisis, it will create thousands of new, good-paying jobs that sustain families while protecting community health and significantly boosting the State's economy; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that this body acknowledges the devasting environmental and health hazards that liquefied natural gas poses and that use of liquefied natural gas is not in alignment with Hawaii's core values; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body requests state authorities to refrain from committing financial and regulatory assistance toward LNG or any other energy sources found to be harmful or destabilizing to our climate system and environment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body calls upon the state government to protect the people of Hawaii by implementing the recommendations by scientists to ensure no new fossil fuel projects are invested in and focus our resources on transitioning our economy off fossil fuels and onto safe and green renewable energy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor; Attorney General; Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources; Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; and Mayors of the Counties of Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii and Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.
OFFERED BY: _____________________________
OFFERED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title: Liquified Natural Gas; Fracking; Climate Change
Report Title:
Liquified Natural Gas; Fracking; Climate Change